§ Sir JOHN SPEARasked the President of the Board of Agriculture if he will in the future pay to county councils the cost of effecting loans for the purpose of acquiring or building houses for small holdings?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThe Board are only authorised to repay the cost of raising loans for the purchase of land,i.e., such loans as are sanctioned for a term of eighty years. The Board obtained authority to repay these costs in consequence of the fact that the Public Works Loans Commissioners were advised that they had no power to include the costs in the amount of the loan when the term of the loan exceeded fifty years. The result of this decision was that the costs could not be borrowed, and would, therefore, have had to be paid by the councils out of revenue, if the Board had not agreed to repay them. In the case of loans for buildings, the term of which cannot exceed fifty years, no such difficulty arises, as the costs can be included in the amount of the loan and borrowed. The cost of raising loans for buildings amounts roughly to 1 per cent., and this amount, when spread over a term of fifty years, cannot be regarded as a serious impediment to building.